Netherworld Chapter 115 The Beast (2)
When I was a kid living here, he often took me out to play. As a kid, I like to run around, and he always happily followed me, no matter where I went, he would not fall behind.
Apart from my grandfather, I have the deepest relationship with this old man in the village. But I haven't seen him for more than ten years, and suddenly I feel a little strange. When he mentioned my grandfather, I didn't know how to talk to him.
Haha, when people get old, they like to think about the past. By the way, why did you suddenly think of coming back here? This is... Grandpa Shi looked at the old Taoist.
Uh, he is... I hesitated, not knowing how to say it.
I am his teacher. I heard from Tianyou that his grandfather was very knowledgeable, so we came back together to pay respect to the old senior. The old Taoist said.
Oh...but this outfit...Grandpa Shi looked up and down at the Taoist's clothes.
I immediately broke out in a cold sweat, because although the old Taoist was not wearing a Taoist robe, he was wearing a long blue cloth robe that was very different from modern clothing.
I like ancient styles, so my clothes are a bit strange, the old Taoist explained calmly.
Grandpa Shi said "oh" again, nodded, and didn't ask any more questions.
I was afraid that he would think of other questions, so I quickly asked him: How have you been recently? Are you in good health?
Hahaha... the little guy has really grown up and knows how to care about others. Grandpa Shi laughed twice, patted his chest with a loud noise, and said: Don't forget how your grandfather called me, Old Stone! I'm hard.
That’s good, that’s good… I also laughed.
You came back this time to prepare...
Oh, it's been a while since I've been back, so I wanted to come back and take a look. And now I'm a city dweller, I guess it's hard for me to go back to the countryside in this lifetime. So I wanted to see if there was anything left by my grandfather, and take back whatever I could.
That's fine. Grandpa Shi nodded, then took something out of his pocket and stuffed it into my hand, saying: You're holding this thing . I was planning to give it to you earlier. But Zhengfeng took you away in a hurry without even saying hello. Your grandpa is alone and has a strange temper. I'm the only one who can come and talk to him every day. Alas, he... I'm also angry that your father is too inconsiderate.
The thing that Grandpa Shi handed over was a piece of something that looked like stone and iron. Its shape was a bit like a canine tooth, but it was thicker and sharper.
This is... I looked at him.
This is something I found accidentally a few years ago. It can keep me safe. You know what happened in my life. Your family is my only relatives. So this thing can be regarded as a gift for my grandson. Grandpa Shi said with a somewhat lonely look.
Hearing him say this, I felt a little uncomfortable. The old man in front of me has a special relationship with our family. He is right. Although I have no blood relationship with him, I am closer to him than a real grandfather and grandson.
I'm a bit busy recently, when I'm done, you can move to the city with me, I said.
Grandpa Shi looked at me, laughed, and said, "Let's talk about this later. Since you are back to pack your things, you can go ahead and do that. I will go back and prepare some food for you. Let's eat here tonight."
Uh... I was a little hesitant, but the old man's eyes were filled with anticipation. My heart ached, and I quickly nodded and said: OK, then don't make too much, just eat a little, I'll come to you after I'm done.
Grandpa Shi smiled and touched my head, looked at the old Taoist again, then turned and left.
Looking at his back, I remembered the time when he led me around the village when I was a kid. I had been away for so long that I had forgotten many things. It was not until I saw this old man that I remembered that there was such a relative in my hometown.
Who is he? asked the Taoist priest.
I looked at the Taoist priest in surprise. This old man never asked unnecessary questions, so why did he suddenly think of asking questions today?
The old Taoist looked at me, as if waiting for an answer.
He is my grandfather's best friend since childhood. Since I was born and can remember, he is the person who has spent the most time with me, besides my grandfather and father. I said.
Friend… the old Taoist repeated in a low voice, then looked at what I had in my hand and said: Let me see that.
I was even more surprised, but I still handed it over. The old Taoist took it and looked at it carefully, frowning slightly.
He looked like he had discovered something. I asked curiously: What happened?
The Taoist priest looked at the thing for a while, handed it back to me and asked: In your memory, have any strange things happened to him?
Strange thing? I thought about it and there was nothing particularly strange.
Seeing me shaking my head, the Taoist frowned even tighter. He looked at me and asked again: Think about it carefully.
The old Taoist had never acted so abnormally before. I was shocked. After thinking about it carefully, I suddenly remembered something.
To talk about this matter, I have to start from my childhood.
Children are very curious. Most of them like to pester adults to tell stories when they are young, and I am no exception. My grandfather has a strange temper. When he opens his mouth, he either curses or says some weird and confusing words. My father is taciturn, and telling stories is not suitable for him.
So, most of my stories were heard from Grandpa Shi.
I don’t know where he knows so many things. He always tells some very strange stories. One of them has himself as the protagonist.
I remember that time, he held me and sat on a big rock at the entrance of the village, and he told me slowly: When your grandfather was young, this was just a small village, which was not frequently visited by the Japanese army and still retained its original appearance. Your grandfather was very naughty, or children of that age were very naughty.
There was a big green stone outside the village. The legend in the village was that an ancient evil beast was sealed in the stone. Children in every household were warned not to approach the stone since they were young, but they did what they said. Children are curious about inexplicable things, so your grandfather often ran to the stone to explore.
One day, two days... one month, two months... He ran there every day. But every time, apart from feeling that the stone was warm, he didn't find anything else unusual. When he told others that the stone had temperature, no one believed him. How could a stone have temperature? In that era when science was not valued, people could only attribute this incomprehensible thing to gods or impossibilities. For this, your grandfather was beaten. But at night, he ran to the stone again with a bump on his head.
I forgot whether it was when he was eight or nine years old. It was a dark night. The sky was overcast and the faint thunder and lightning indicated that a rainstorm was coming. In a few minutes, a heavy rain had already fallen.
Your grandfather sat on a bench at the door, vaguely distinguishing the direction of the stone. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him: People are afraid of getting wet, but what about the stone? Will it also get wet? What if it gets sick?
After years of getting along with him, he regarded the stone as a life in his heart, a life that he could talk to. Your grandfather didn't have many friends because his ideas were too shocking. Many times, he said in front of the villagers: There are not only people in this world, but also gods, ghosts, monsters and demons. This scared the simple villagers, and they warned their children not to get close to him. Therefore, the only one who could really get along with him was a quiet stone.
"Hey, where are you going? It's raining so hard!" With this call, your grandfather foolishly took the umbrella and rushed out of the house. Behind him was the swaying figure under the dim yellow oil lamp.
It was raining heavily, the wind was strong, and the roads in the village were all muddy. His thin body kept slipping and falling to the ground, but he didn't even wipe the mud off his face, and ran straight to the stone.
In the distance, he saw a stone. Was it still a stone? He saw a giant beast, a beast roaring to the sky. The roar seemed very weak, so small under the thunder. But your grandfather heard it, and he remembered it very clearly, the voice full of unwilling resistance.
A golden bolt of lightning suddenly pierced through the clouds and struck the giant beast.
"Stone!" Your grandfather shouted in panic, having forgotten that lightning is the most powerful force in the world. He ran towards the stone while shouting, "Stone!", throwing away his umbrella.
"Pah!" It seemed like a soft sound, but also like a loud noise. Your grandfather could no longer tell what the sound was. He only saw the beast slowly fall down. His stone fell down just like that.
"Stone! My stone! Wow!!!" He shouted and ran forward. The slippery mud road was no longer an obstacle. He just wanted to get to the stone as soon as possible.
"My stone! My stone! Wow! My stone!" When he came to the front of the stone, he found that it had broken into pieces. He suddenly fell to his knees. At such a young age, he didn't know how to face the grief. He could only cry and cry non-stop.
The grief from the heart, tears mixed with rain washed the stone. The light, the stone suddenly emitted a faint light. In the dark, your grandfather seemed to hear a helpless sigh, someone said: "Forget it, everything..."
In front of your grandfather, the stones slowly closed. In the increasingly bright light, a little lion-like creature appeared in front of him. Opening its eyes with difficulty, the beast gently licked the hand placed on it.
"My stone!" he exclaimed, and he hugged the beast tightly and never let go.
